Piano dollies are well known in the art for moving grand pianos to and from the place of use, such as the stage of an auditorium, opera house or the like. Known dollies include those having three arms which can be used to support and move grand pianos. Dollies of this type, which are sometimes referred to as “spider dollies”, typically have a central hub formed from two vertically spaced plates, and three arms extending radially outwardly from between the plates. Each arm is pivotally mounted at its inner end to the central hub so that each arm may be rotated relative to the hub to accommodate grand pianos of different shapes and/or lengths. To provide the necessary adjustability for accommodating differently configured piano lengths and leg arrangements, each of the three arms of known grand piano spider dollies are adjustable in length, such as by incorporating a pair of coaxial arm sections which telescope one within the other.
The distal ends of the arms of many known grand piano spider dollies typically terminate in a Z-shaped member when viewed in side elevation, with the inner arm portion thereof being higher than the outer arm portion. A relatively large swiveling-type caster is mounted under the high, horizontally extending inner arm portion of each Z-shaped member, while the lower, horizontally extending outer arm portion of each Z-shaped member carries a receptacle for accepting a caster mounted to the lower end of one of the piano legs. In this manner, it is only necessary to lift the piano a relatively small vertical distance to position it on the dolly, but the dolly can still utilize relatively large casters to facilitate moving heavy pianos. A prior art grand piano dolly of the foregoing type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,887,067.
While spider dollies for moving grand pianos have been advantageously used for many years, they are subject to some disadvantages. For example, the design of a typical grand piano spider dolly does not lend itself to pre-assembly before shipping. Instead, the spider dolly is usually assembled at the location of use so that the central hub can be positioned under the piano, followed by rotation of each arm relative to the hub and adjustment of the length of each arm to accommodate the size and shape of the particular piano. These multiple angular and length adjustments are difficult to make in advance.
Further, known grand piano spider dollies, if preassembled prior to shipping, lack compactness and, thus result in increased cartoning and shipping costs.
Grand pianos typically have a pedal lyre that extends below the main body of the piano toward, but with its lower end spaced slightly above, the floor the piano rests on, in addition to the three support legs. For smaller grand pianos of this type, the location of the pedal lyre can preclude the use of a spider dolly due to mechanical interference between the lyre and the central hub of the dolly.
Another disadvantage of grand piano spider dollies is that virtually the entire dolly is in clear view when the piano is mounted on it. This is sometimes considered to be unsightly and can detract from the aesthetic beauty of the piano. This can be particularly problematic in some circumstances. For instance, if a grand piano will be used for one or more acts of an opera or play, but not throughout the entire performance, the piano may remain mounted on the dolly during the performance so it can be quickly removed from the stage between acts. In instances such as this, the unattractive visual appearance of known spider dollies is undesirable.
In addition, the requirement of existing grand piano spider dollies that each arm be independently adjustable in length results in extra components, such as sleeves, multiple telescoping arm sections, extra fasteners, and the like, which add weight and complexity, and increases the set-up time required to match a dolly to a particular grand piano leg configuration. Additionally, it increases the number of different parts which the manufacturer must carry in inventory to accommodate the necessary number of different models and styles needed for use with pianos having lengths and leg configurations which vary over a wide range. All of the foregoing increases the manufacturer's overall cost of manufacturing, cartoning and shipping a full line of piano dollies.
In view of the foregoing, there is a continuing need for an improved dolly for moving grand pianos of different lengths and leg configurations, which can be factory assembled and compactly configured for shipment, yet minimizes the number of different components required to accommodate a wide range of piano lengths and leg configurations.